52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



showed that a few living scale insects occurred here and there. 

 There was also some evidence of oil injury, though it is impossible 

 at the present time to state whether this is great enough to be a 

 permanent detriment. This can be determined only by subsequent 

 observations and treatment. Another tree in the central part of 

 the State, most thoroughly sprayed several times with this prepa- 

 ration, was entirely free from living scale insects though evidence 

 of oil injury was a little more marked than in the first mentioned 

 instance. These preparations are worth experimenting with though 

 conclusions should be drawn with the greatest care. A few years 

 ago we were told that crude petroleum could be applied in a diluted 

 form without injury to trees and for a while this was accepted 

 as true, but the Work of later years has shown this to be erroneous, 

 except possibly under unusually favorable circumstances. The so 

 called '' soluble oils " presumably differ not very much from those 

 employed in earlier years, except that they have been brought into 

 a very finely emulsified condition. There is danger that successive 

 annual applications to trees may eventually result in serious injury, 

 and a word of warning in regard to these preparations is therefore 

 timely. 



Grapevine root worm (Fidia viticida Walsh) . This 

 destructive enemy of the vineyardist continues abundant in the 

 Chautauqua region and during the past season has been excep- 

 tionally numerous in certain vineyards. It is, as experience has 

 shown in the past, such a local insect that one part of a vineyard 

 may be very badly infested and another portion less than loo yards 

 away comparatively free from the pest. These conditions render 

 it very difficult to make any general statements concerning this 

 insect. There is no question but that it is becoming more abundant 

 in certain vineyards here and there throughout the grape belt and 

 its numbers have increased materially in the past year or two in 

 some vineyards on the hills back from the lake. The insidious 

 nature of this insect's operations renders it advisable that all growers 

 should keep a close watch for the appearance of the pest in any 

 numbers, and in case it becomes abundant they should adopt meas- 

 ures for its prompt suppression rather than allow it to multiply 

 unrestricted and perhaps cause irreparable injury. 



Steely flea beetle (Haltica chalybea 111.). This pest, 

 owing to the continued cold weather of early spring retarding the 

 grape buds just after they had begun to open, had an exceptional 

 opportunity to work and therefore caused more injury than usual. 



